Weekly Newsletter

Parallel worlds in Tolkien and Dumas

Rutland Herald’s retired editor Kendall Wild has written an interesting opinion piece on the parallels between ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and the ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ by Alexandre Dumas. Here’s an excerpt:

There is an odd similarity between the “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien and the “Count of Monte Cristo” by the senior Alexandre Dumas. The characters and places have different names, but the overall framework of each is very much alike.

The central theme of both novels, of course, is a quest. Frodo’s quest (often capitalized as “Quest”) is to carry the evil ring of Sauron to the volcanic fire of Mount Doom and destroy it, thus destroying Sauron.

The quest of Edmond Dantes, in the Dumas novel, is to exact revenge on the people who falsely imprisoned him, stole his girlfriend, and caused his father to starve to death.

You can read the full article at the Rutland Herald website. [Read More]

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